Kelly McLoughlin – Clinical Hypnotherapist: Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life

Five months ago Kelly McLoughlin was new to the Rogue Valley.  She had decided that upon her daughter’s high school graduation she would relocate from Santa Fe, New Mexico where she had spent 23 years, to the Rogue Valley where she would continue her work as a clinical hypnotherapist.  Kelly is originally from South Africa where she spent the first 20 years of her life before hitting the backpacking trail for Europe and then the U.S.  I met Kelly shortly after she moved here in June at an Ashland Chamber of Commerce Greeters Meeting.  She signed up with the LocalsGuide and has been a regular contributor ever since.  Fast forward five months: Kelly informs me that she is establishing a thriving practice.  Between word of mouth, advertising, and local networking Kelly has hit the ground running with her business here in the Rogue Valley.  I was impressed to hear of her accomplishments and could only guess one thing: She must be really good at what she does! I met Kelly shortly after she moved here in June at an Ashland Chamber of Commerce Greeters Meeting.  She signed up with the LocalsGuide and has been a regular contributor ever since.  Fast forward five months: Kelly informs me that she is establishing a thriving practice.  Between word of mouth, advertising, and local networking Kelly has hit the ground running with her business here in the Rogue Valley.  I was impressed to hear of her accomplishments and could only guess one thing: She must be really good at what she does!

Kelly, thanks for taking the time to speak with us today and congratulations on your successful relocation to Southern Oregon. To begin with what words of wisdom would you share with anyone who is moving to a new community. How did you get connected so fast?

Once I had unpacked my boxes and hung a few pictures on the wall it was time to make some friends and start networking. I joined the Ashland Chamber, BNI, Toastmasters and a few Meetups. It wasn’t long and I started to get to know a few folks and build friendships with them. I think that it’s very important for a person who provides a service like I do to get out there in the community so that people can get to know who they are. I went out wanting to make friends first and foremost but always remembering to throw in a few words about what I did and how powerful hypnotherapy really is. I really love what I do, and I believe that is the key to success. I also believe in what I do, I never doubted for a minute that my practice would be anything but successful especially when people start seeing profound changes.

Great suggestions. One thing I have become particularly aware of in both our previous conversations and now talking with you here is your nuanced use of language. Please talk more about this.

We have the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. The conscious mind is like the captain of the ship. He directs the ship. He sends orders to the men and woman in the engine room. The men and women in the engine room can be likened to the subconscious mind. They control the boilers, the instruments, the gauges, and so on. The people in the engine room do not know where they are going, they just follow orders. They would go on the rocks if the man on the bridge issued faulty or wrong instructions. The people in the engine room obey him because he is in charge. Because he is supposed to know what he’s doing, the members of the crew do not talk back to the captain. They simply carry out his orders.

In the same way your conscious mind is the captain and the master of your ship – your body, your environment, and all of your affairs, your subconscious mind takes the orders you give it based upon what your conscious mind believes and accepts as true.  It does not question the orders on the basis on which they are given. The subconscious takes everything literally; this is how negative beliefs about us get lodged into the subconscious. If we believe ourselves to be unworthy then those beliefs will dictate the results that show up in our lives.

Can you give us some basic examples of how simply changing our language can help to change our lives?

Our subconscious mind takes everything we say literally, it doesn’t judge anything. If we are constantly telling ourselves that we are losers, or we’re stupid or that life is hard, then that is exactly what we’ll get. Our subconscious mind answers that conscious mind by saying, “your wish is my command.” Another no-no is organ talk, saying things like, “I need a break, you’re killing me.”  “You’re a pain in the neck.” My parents moved back to England after trying to make it here in the States.  My dad did not want to go back and kept saying, “Over my dead body will I go back to England.” Within a year of being back there he got cancer.

What are some of the biggest challenges that you are assisting your clients in overcoming?

I see people for everything you can imagine; from people trying to stop smoking to self-esteem issues.  I am a clinical hypnotherapist so I work with doctors, dentists, chiropractors, etc. Sometimes a person has a medical issue that doctors can’t seem to find the answer to, maybe they have pain in their body and doctors can’t find anything wrong.  I look at what the client is saying internally on a daily basis, what beliefs are lodged in their subconscious, and what their body is trying to tell them via the subconscious mind.

In these photos I have taught the client how to anesthetize his hand and then a needle was put into the top of his hand and he felt nothing. This technique is used for people who are allergic to novacane at the dentist and need to numb their own gums with the power of self hypnosis. It can also be used to reduce pain and in some cases it has even been used during surgery with no other anesthesia.

I work a lot with people who want to get off certain medications or lower their dosage. I teach people how to manage pain, how to accelerate healing. I’ve worked with cancer patients to help with the side effects of chemo. Not only do I work with adults I also work with children, from helping them get better grades to stopping bad habits like hair pulling or nail biting. I’m happy to say that I have about a 98% success rate. Clients are seeing positive changes in 6-8 sessions.

Weight reduction versus weight loss… explain?

This goes back to the previous conversation about organ talk. Loss implies that something is lost or even “loser.” Even the word “diet” is bad because it has the word “die” in it. People don’t come in to lose weight they come to reduce or control their weight.

Can you share a recent success story with us?

Here I’ll share a testimonial with you:

“My name is Jim and I have been a smoker for 40 years. I started when I was 17 and I am now 57. I have tried many times to quit. I’ve done cold turkey, I’ve done Chantix twice, I chewed nicorette gum, and I’ve tried the patch twice. My wife found Kelly online and suggested I give it a try. I was skeptical, by made an appointment for August 5, 2013. By the end of that month I was smoke free. It is now November and I am still smoke-free. I would highly recommend Kelly to anyone.” – Jim M, Talent, OR

In your experience who is healing the fastest and why? What do you see as some of the key contributing factors?

When people get tired of the suffering and seek out help they are already on the path of healing. People who come in because a spouse made them or a parent made them do not necessarily heal because they are there for someone else not for themselves.

Kelly, please talk about how the human mind works and how this allows us to create success or not?

We have the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. The conscious mind is our logic, analysis, choice, our reasoning, etc. The subconscious mind runs our autonomic nervous system. Everything that is going on without our conscious awareness; our heart beating, our respiration, our hair and finger nails growing, our wounds healing, all of this is done by the mighty subconscious mind. The subconscious is where we store all of our memories it’s also where we store all of our beliefs, both positive and negative. In hypnosis we are working with the subconscious mind. From the time we are born we are being programmed, by parents, teachers, and peers.  This programming creates beliefs or patterns that get lodged in the subconscious (e.g. I’m stupid, I’m ugly, I’m not good enough).   These beliefs then create the behaviors and results we experience in life. If you grow up believing you’re ugly because you were told that by a friend when you were in kindergarten that your new hair cut made you look ugly (which you may or may not even remember) what kind of behavior are you going to display as you grow up?  What are the results that are going to show up in your life? People don’t realize how a simple, non-important little statement that was made years ago can dictate the results that they are having in their lives.

For example, a 40+ year old woman came in to see me for weight loss. She had been heavy her whole life, every diet she tried met with defeat. She would lose the weight only to gain it back. In hypnosis she went back to the age of 4 and heard her grandmother telling a friend that she (the child) was big boned just like her uncle. Her subconscious absorbed that belief and carried it out for her whole life. Once the belief was brought into conscious awareness, special hypnotherapy techniques were used to neutralize and amend the negative belief. She contacted me 6 months later to report that she had lost a significant amount of weight and was maintaining it with very little effort. There are a couple of sayings we use in this type of therapy work, the first is, “You cannot heal what you’re not aware of,” and “You cannot heal what you’re not willing to feel.” That describes some of the work I do.

As a hypnotherapist how do you then utilize your own training to navigate what you have described above?

Just like doctors can give a patient a sugar pill or placebo and see them get well, I use hypnosis to reprogram the mind, I am placing positive verbal messages into the mind, this is my placebo, and these positive messages dictate new behavior.

Your training was highly in-depth for you.  Can you say more about this and how you feel like it has helped shape you into the practitioner you are today?

I was trained in clinical hypnotherapy. In addition to learning the ins and outs of basic hypnotherapy, I spent months focused on the clinical and medical part of it. The training I got was one of the most extensive trainings in the world, there was nothing “woo-woo” about it.  I learned the clinical aspects of hypnosis as well as the business side of how to run a practice. At the end of the training I felt completely confident that I could go out and start a hypnotherapy practice. I am not able to diagnose nor do I claim to cure any medical issue, but I do work in conjunction with medical practitioners.

Kelly, describe some of your own expectations for your clients and how you as a practitioner work to support them.

I expect them to be 100% committed to being a co-pilot in their healing process. The two of us are there with the same intention – their healing. If I cannot see my client already healed then I need to refer them to someone else.  I’m happy to say I’ve never had to refer a patient to anyone else.

How would you describe exposure to hypnotherapy; both as participant and observer, in changing your own life?

Before I got involved with hypnotherapy I had my reservations. I’d seen the stage hypnosis shows, and thought it to be some magical, mind-control game. I had no idea that hypnosis was used for changing belief systems; controlling body functions, rapid healing, creating a successful mindset and all the other wonderful things it’s used for.  I was totally ignorant.  When I started doing hypnosis sessions for myself, my limiting belief was that I was a failure. I had numerous businesses that had failed, a marriage that had failed, and because I believed this to be true that is what I got. I had gone to psychics, channels, emotional intuitives, and the lot.  Nothing worked. Why? Because none of those people knew that my issue was a belief that was lodged deep in my subconscious; a belief that needed to be bought to the surface and neutralized. Hypnosis changed that belief, and when I began to see myself as successful, success began pouring into my life in multiple ways. It was kind of like magic actually.

Please tell us more about your services and how one can get started in working with you.

I recommend 6-8 sessions for all of my clients. Every session is different and builds on the one before. Usually clients see results after the very first session. After 6 sessions most clients are well on their way to living a happier, more satisfying life. They can get started by asking themselves if they are ready to stop the suffering.  If the answer is yes, then all they need to do is pick up the phone and call. I give a free phone consult and answer any questions or concerns they may have. For those people who may not be quite ready to do sessions I also sell various hypnosis CDs on my website.  This is a great way to get a feel for what hypnosis is and work on some issues too.

Do you work remotely as well as locally?

I have clients all over the world. With the fabulous technology we have today that is not a problem. I do many sessions via Skype on the computer. So if anyone has a friend or loved one that could benefit from hypnotherapy, please have them contact me.

You also conduct self hypnosis workshops.  Tell us a bit about that.

The great thing about hypnosis is that it can be taught, and if the participants are willing and eager to do the work, they really don’t need to be seeing a therapist. I teach them the tools they need to change their belief system, eliminate the obstacles that are getting in the way and have a much more rewarding and happy life. Every month I conduct a free Introduction to Hypnotherapy presentation in Medford.  This helps to dispel the myths around hypnosis and give people a better understanding about what it all is. I also have a 6-week weight reduction workshop coming up in January. I work together with various professionals, like nutritionists and personal trainers to educate the participants and I also use the tools of hypnotherapy to change the mindset around eating and exercising, and find out what the blocks might be. There is even a session where participants play with clay to create their ideal body size. (No talent necessary!) Registration is now open for January for those who would like to start their new year off right. All the information is available on my website.

Lastly, something really clicked for you when you stepped into your career as a Clinical Hypnotherapist.  What was it like?

When I saw the power of hypnosis in my own life that was it; I had to get this message out to the world:  Hypnotherapy is the most powerful self-help system known to humanity. Hypnosis or the use of the altered-state has been used for literally thousands of years to help people solve problems and achieve their goals. People need to know about this powerful part of themselves that can create absolutely anything they desire.

Learn More:
Kelly McLoughlin
2596 E Barnett Rd, Medford
(541) 301-1061
miracleswithhypnosis.com